Vasa, Sunken and Resurrected

In 1688, a royal ship was embarking from Stockholm harbor on its maiden voyage. The Vasa was incredibly grand and intricate; it was also incredibly top-heavy. A few minutes after it began sailing, the ship toppeled over and sank into the sea. But its story was only just beginning. Support Noble Blood: —Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/noblebloodtales — Noble Blood merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/noble-blood — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250840578/anatomyalovestory/and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story' https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250861016/immortalityalovestory/ See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• 0:00Dana Schwartz?

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.

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• 0:35Dana Schwartz?

  Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Listener discretion advised.

• 0:44Dana Schwartz?

  Crowds of nobles, workers, families, all poured in from the Royal Palace and the streets of Stockholm, eager to finally see their king's pride and joy in all her splendor. She was supposed to be beautiful. King Gustavus Adolphus himself was off fighting in Poland, but his presence was readily felt in that day's festivities, speeches, and down at the waterfront in the beautiful visage of his beloved Vasa. August 10, 1628, was a bright day, and the sun's rays illuminated her every feature,

• 1:23Dana Schwartz?

  from her meticulously carved beak head to her godly painted stern castle. Yes, the Vasa was, in fact, a ship. But not just any ship. The Vasa was a hulking warship, the pinnacle of Swedish naval ambitions, a floating tribute to the country's bold ruler. This was the vessel that would make the Swedish Empire the masters of the Baltic Sea. But the Vasa's departure from harbor was far from majestic. With little wind to help the ship move through Stockholm Harbor,

• 2:05Dana Schwartz?

  Captain Sofring Hansen ordered his crew to use ropes, posts along the shore, and their vertical, man-powered winch, known as a capstan, to pull themselves along at a sea snail's pace. Nevertheless, the crowd cheered on the Vasa. After all, the warship was still a grand sight, with its double decks of bronze cannons and all of its carved sculptures and gilded adornments. The slow progression through the harbor actually allowed many onlookers to keep pace along the key while calling out to their friends and relatives onboard.

• 2:46Dana Schwartz?

  At long last, the Vasa glided out away from shore. It fired a salute, and the crew set four of its ten available sails. A gust of wind blew, and immediately the ship began heeling over to its port side. Screams came from the watching crowd, as well as from some onboard, especially the more inexperienced crew members and honorary guests. Captain Hansen was worried too, knowing how bad this maiden voyage was going, and how much worse it could get if his nagging fears about the ship's seaworthiness were true.

• 3:31Dana Schwartz?

  But he barked orders and managed to even the Vasa's keel. If they could just complete their first leg to the Alvnebson Naval Base further south in the Swedish archipelago and thereby appease the impatient orders of the king, they could hopefully make further adjustments to the ship. Then came the second gust of wind. Spoiler alert: The ship sank on its maiden voyage.

• 4:00Dana Schwartz?

  We wouldn't be talking about it now if it hadn't. However, the Vasa's story did not end with its dramatic and deadly foundering. Far from it. The ship may have only sailed about 1,300 meters in total, but its overarching journey, from its rushed construction to its epic failure to its unprecedented and incredible resurrection, would effectively canonize it as one of the most legendary ships to ever, even if so very briefly, set sail. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood.

• 4:49Dana Schwartz?

  For nearly 400 years now, the most common question asked about the Vasa by everyone, from historians to marine archaeologists to casual observers, has been, "Why did it sink?" The answer is complicated, since it involves physical issues such as buoyancy, building materials, and weight distribution, as well as classic human flaws like hubris, fear, and miscommunication. Since the "human" side gives us the more psychologically compelling entry point, let's start there. With the Vasa's creation, there were many fathers and several mothers,

• 5:29Dana Schwartz?

  but no one figures as prominently as King Gustavus Adolphus. The ship was his true brainchild. Gustavus became king of Sweden in 1611 at age 16, and had limited margin for error, since his country was so frequently at war with three of its neighbors: Denmark, Russia, and Poland.

• 5:55Dana Schwartz?

  Despite some early losses, Gustavus gained a reputation as a bold warrior and commander who helped usher in an era that Swedish historians would later call "The Age of Greatness", or "Great Power Period". Beyond outmuscling his close rivals, Gustavus strove to push Sweden into the top tier of European powerhouses. As a devout Lutheran, he even hoped to staunch the influence of the robust Catholic empires to the south. Such lofty ambitions required enhanced military might. So, eager to boost his navy's firepower and to assert his control over profitable Baltic

• 6:39Dana Schwartz?

  trade routes, Gustavus sent an order to his Stockholm Navy Yard in 1625 to build him four new warships. Of these, the flagship was slated to be the most powerful the world has ever seen. When finished, it would have a stunning capacity, or seventy-two bronze twenty-four-pounders, aka cannons that shot twenty-four-pound balls. But what to call this awe-inspiring vessel? What name would elicit pride from its patriots and strike fear into its foes? How about "Bundle of Sticks"?

• 7:20Dana Schwartz?

  That is essentially what Vasa originally meant. To be more exact, the name comes from the word "vase", which was the heraldic symbol embraced by the Swedish royal family. Heading into the 17th century, it was increasingly depicted as a sheath of wheat in their coat of arms, and the dynasty itself became known as the "House of Vasa", starting with Gustavus's grandfather Gustav Eriksson Vasa. Thus, by dubbing his ship "Vasa", Gustavus Adolphus was, in a sense, both honoring his family and putting their reputation on the line.

• 8:02Dana Schwartz?

  This looming pressure only increased during the Vasas' choppy formative years. Due to the time it took for the shipyard to communicate with the king, who was frequently off leading his army, multiple versions of the contract were circulated. This made master shipbuilder Henrik Hybertson's job hard, to put it mildly. Quickly sourcing enough properly cut oak beams would be tricky under normal circumstances, let alone when stuck in a contract dispute with a temperamental monarch over basic ship dimensions and costs. It's worth noting that although a myth lingered for years

• 8:45Dana Schwartz?

  that Gustavus' continued meddling was a crucial factor in Vasa's ultimate failure, documents show that that wasn't actually the case, at least not with the main design. Once construction began, Gustavus did not keep trying to change the specifications of the ship. His impatience simply affected the build in other ways. One crucial issue was the dissimilarities between the main shipbuilding techniques used throughout Europe during this era. Shipbuilder Henrik was trained in the Dutch style, in which workers did not rely on detailed designs or models like they did in the English style.

• 9:28Dana Schwartz?

  Instead, they derived proportional measurements from basic parts of the ship, like the keel. The Dutch way saved money and time, but turned out to be far riskier when utilized in Stockholm under the king's urgent schedule. For example, carpenters were recruited at home and abroad and brought differently sized tools with them. Six wood rulers, all supposedly a foot long, were later located, and none of them were the same length.

• 10:02Dana Schwartz?

  The Swedish ones were closer to a modern 12 inches, whereas the Dutch ones were closer to 11. Not exactly a recipe for precision. Additionally, separate construction groups worked on the port and starboard sides, which may have given the Vasa a slightly asymmetric structure. As if all that were not enough, it was tricky to judge how the immense weight of 72 cannons would affect the ship, because 72 cannons were not readily available, particularly not in the size that King Gustavus wanted. These guns had to be cast in bronze at a separate foundry in Stockholm,

• 10:47Dana Schwartz?

  a task so Herculean that it was not completed. According to researchers, only 64 cannons ever actually made it onto the Vasa. Then, in 1627, Henrik fell ill and died. His wife, Margarete Nielsdottir, took over the stressful job of running the shipyard, with departments going far over budget and a king demanding to see progress. Other shipbuilders stepped in to help oversee things, along with the Vasa's future captain, Sofring Hansen. In 1627, they launched the Vasa, a process where they moved the incomplete vessel to the water

• 11:30Dana Schwartz?

  to finish its upper deck's rigging and other features. During this phase, workers noticed the ship's tendency to roll over. But hopefully, a seasoned captain like Hansen could manage that while sailing.

• 11:48Dana Schwartz?

  As we now know, Hansen could not, and on that lightly breezy summer day in 1628, the Vasa heeled too far to port. Water rushed in and the Vasa sank frighteningly quickly. Most crew members and passengers managed to escape, but at least 15 were trapped and drowned. The ship may not have taken on water so quickly if the gun ports, especially those on the lower deck, had been closed. But they were open because A, the king wanted the might of his new warship to be on full display, and B, most of the cannons that were ready in time were placed on the lower

• 12:33Dana Schwartz?

  gun deck for stability's sake, and they would be difficult to reposition on short notice. Gustavus Adolphus, furious upon hearing of the Vasa's demise, called for an inquest. Captain Hansen and other key figures were interrogated at the palace on September 5, 1628. Almost a month's worth of lead time allowed these officers to carefully craft their defenses. According to documents from the hearings, the defendants largely scapegoated the dead shipwright Henrik Hjbertson and/or implied that they were simply following the king's orders.

• 13:13Dana Schwartz?

  So to punish them would be to question the wisdom of fearsome King Gustavus Adolphus. Still, it came out that Captain Hansen had been aware of the Vasa's flaws, to the point that he had had his crew do a demonstration for one of the crown's vice admirals. But clearly, everyone was so fearful of delivering bad news to the king that the maiden voyage went forward anyway. Ultimately, no one was found guilty of negligence, and the involved officers, nobles, and craftspeople all tried to move on with their careers and lives.

• 13:53Dana Schwartz?

  King Gustavus Adolphus got involved in the bloody Thirty Years' War and died at the Battle of Lutzen in 1632. Meanwhile, the Vasa rested at the bottom of Stockholm Harbor, seemingly doomed to a disastrous legacy and a turbid decomposition. That is, until the steady evolution of nautical technology and some long-awaited luck gave the ship a chance to rise again.

• 14:27Dana Schwartz?

  Only three days after the Vasa sank, Sweden's Council of the Realm granted an Englishman permission to try to salvage it. His method involved using two floating ships as pontoons, and gradually tightening ropes attached to the wreck to pull it up a little, drag it to shallow waters, and then repeat. His plan was sound, but unfortunately, he lacked enough mechanical force. A Dutch expert tried next, as did others. At one point, Captain Hansen was even tapped to lead a recovery effort. But like his stewardship of the Vasa's first voyage,

• 15:09Dana Schwartz?

  his second go with the ship, in its much soggyer state, also failed. Then, in 1663, a diver named Albert von Treilben pitched an exciting new approach. Fortunately, the king at this time, Carl the 10th Gustav, was very interested in ships, just as Gustavus had been. So he recognized the potential when Treilben showed him an invention called "the diving bell." It could not enable the lifting of the ship, but by trapping air underwater, the metallic chamber allowed Treilben's divers to recover valuable items.

• 15:51Dana Schwartz?

  Namely, thanks to Treilben's German partner's technique of using giant tongs to remove large pieces from the gunports, the team was reportedly able to recover most of the Vasa's prized bronze cannons. After that, the Vasa was mostly ignored for centuries, with the general consensus being that the ship's materials were likely deteriorating beyond sufficient value or usefulness.

• 16:21Dana Schwartz?

  Fascinatingly, though, that wasn't the case. As it turns out, in many ways, the conditions in Stockholm Harbor were ideal for preserving a sunken ship. According to scientists, the cold, brackish, low-oxygen waters of the Baltic kept certain organisms that wreak havoc on wood, like the mollusk referred to as "the shipworm", from destroying the vasa. More off-puttingly, we also have the poor waste-removal practices of the 17th century to thank for protecting the ship. Raw sewage jumped directly into the harbor from the city's privies may have grievously

• 17:06Dana Schwartz?

  poisoned the marine environment, but in doing so, it evidently also stymied wood-loving bacteria. Additionally, the ample sediment and clay of the harbor's seafloor encased many structures and portions of the hull. This shielded the vasa from erosion, but also made it extremely difficult to lift because the ships settling into the muddy cushion created massive amounts of suction. Fast forward to the 1950s. Yes, over 300 years after the sinking of the vasa, and a Swedish man named Anders Fransen

• 17:50Dana Schwartz?

  becomes fascinated by the ship. He had served during World War II, studying shipwrecks in his spare time, and got the Bronström's Shipping Company and the Swedish Navy to back a new salvage endeavor by winning over King Gustav VI Adolf. As you may have already guessed, Sweden's recently-crowned monarch was a fan of ships. If anything, we're making a strong case here that, within the last four centuries, you couldn't ascend to the Swedish throne and not like ships. Plus, this Gustav was exceptionally passionate about archaeology in general.

• 18:31Dana Schwartz?

  For his recovery plan, Anders Fransen and his team opted to combine new and old methods. They first used modern technology to shoot jets of pressurized water below the Vasa. This created tunnels through which they then threaded cables to make a sturdy cradle for the ship. This was dangerous work for divers who had to work in claustrophobic conditions, fearing that the tunnels beneath the ship might collapse on them. Eventually, though, they succeeded, and the recovery team then used an incremental system of lifting the ship with pontoons and cable adjustments that was remarkably similar to

• 19:16Dana Schwartz?

  the strategy attempted in the 1600s. The Vasa was gradually pulled and towed into shallower water until finally, on April 24th, 1961, it emerged. Raising the Vasa onto a special pontoon platform was only part of the challenge, however. For those first couple decades, a tricky balance had to be reached between preservation and in-depth study. Initially, workers had to keep spraying the ship with water to prevent drying that might lead to warping and cracking.

• 19:57Dana Schwartz?

  A Swedish duo, Bertil Centerval and Rolf Muren, then devised a clever way to preserve the structure, using a substance called polyethylene glycol, or PEG. When injected, this polymer replaced water while strengthening wood fibers. Fun fact: This treatment was so effective that it became standard practice with waterlogged wooden structures, including the famous English warship Mary Rose that was later salvaged.

• 20:29Dana Schwartz?

  Preservation with PEG was effective, but also time-consuming. For detached pieces that could be submerged in this chemical mix, the process often took from a year to 18 months. The main body of the Vasa took way longer. The whole thing couldn't be dunked, so conservators had to sprinkle and inject PEG continually. This took from 1961 to 1979. Finally, once the ship had been fortified, eager marine archaeologists and historians were able to start fully reconstructing and analyzing the ship.

• 21:14Dana Schwartz?

  The Vasa proved to be an incredible time capsule of 17th-century Swedish life at sea. At least 25,000 objects were reportedly found. Clothing, shoes, games, glassware, and coins all provided glimpses at what life was like. The ship's decorations also tell quite a story. An astonishing number of intricate carvings survived, some with traces of their original bright paint jobs. These showcased an amalgamation of artistic styles, classic mythology, Old Testament iconography, odes to King Gustavus Adolphus,

• 21:57Dana Schwartz?

  and plenty of merpeople and mythical creatures. There were even carvings that poked fun at rival Polish nobles by showing them in compromising positions. Two of these were purportedly placed so they were only clearly visible to a crewman who sat on one of the ship's main two toilets.

• 22:22Dana Schwartz?

  By modern standards, the intended living and working conditions on the Vasa seem pretty awful. The officers had larger cabins, but most of the crew—had the ship, in theory, continued its mission—would have slept in dark, cramped conditions between cannons. The only daylight that those on the lower decks would have regularly seen would have filtered through cracks in the beams above. The Vasa was supposed to carry a staggering 450 people, although it wasn’t full when it sank because the soldier regiments had not yet boarded.

• 23:02Dana Schwartz?

  So, in one way, the fact that the ship failed so immediately actually prevented even more people from suffering and dying. Even so, as we mentioned, there were individuals who never made it off the ship. Fifteen skeletons were recovered from the Vasa wreck. It was hard to identify them since no exact official crew lists survived. The remains still offered scientists a wealth of information, though. The group included sailors, likely conscripted from coastal towns or brought on from defecting Danish and Norwegian crews. Since the first voyage of the Vasa was a festive occasion, a few women and children

• 23:47Dana Schwartz?

  were also reportedly aboard. This was reflected in the skeletons. Two of the 15 were female. Analysis of the bones also gave insight into height, age, matrilineal details, and nutrition. Somewhat surprisingly, although those who had died had plenty of other apparent injuries, none seemed to have been afflicted by scurvy. The remains were actually in such good condition that detailed facial reconstructions could be done, and eventually, one skeleton could be identified, based on its age and clothing remnants. It was Hans Janssen.

• 24:31Dana Schwartz?

  Janssen was an experienced captain slated to lead the Vasa, who was then replaced by Sofring Hansen. Janssen still joined the maiden voyage, though, as corroborated by officers at the inquest. The fact that even an expert captain went down with the ship shows just how terrifyingly fast it all happened. Further examination also shed more light on why the Vasa sank. A critical problem was that there were too many heavy beams, too high up the hull, and too much space between decks. This, combined with apparent asymmetries

• 25:13Dana Schwartz?

  and the fact the ship was actually too small to effectively carry so much cargo, made it a top-heavy catastrophe waiting to happen. A catastrophe that, while highly tragic at the time, eventually also led to a stunning archaeological find that has inspired millions.

• 25:39Dana Schwartz?

  The Vasa's sinking was a costly and embarrassing disaster, but it did not seemingly dampen King Gustavus Adolphus's nautical ambitions in his remaining years. Since the ship was such a failure, it became a cautionary tale and brought sweeping changes. The Swedish Navy improved their production process, utilizing more thorough oversight and opting to work from detailed designs and models on future builds. Larger, sturdier warships eventually made it out of the harbor to see action. In the long run, though, no ship from this period would see more action than the Vasa,

• 26:21Dana Schwartz?

  which, to this day, has not left Stockholm Harbor. While conservators were working to preserve the Vasa on its pontoon platform, a museum was built around it.

• 26:36Dana Schwartz?

  The ship still rests there, on an island in Stockholm, in a temperature and humidity-controlled environment. One that I actually was lucky enough to visit, although every single photo I have is incredibly dark and blurry. The Vasa may have struggled at sea, but since its recovery and career pivot, it has been a smashing success that continues to repay Sweden's investment, at least in terms of tourism. The current king of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustav, who, get this, has demonstrated he's both a fan of historical ships and of promoting maritime safety,

• 27:19Dana Schwartz?

  inaugurated the Vasa Museum on June 15, 1990. According to some sources, it is the most-visited museum in Scandinavia, attracting a reported 1.5 million visitors a year. Books, documentaries, countless types of merchandise, and even a video game have focused on the Vasa's unique history.

• 27:46Dana Schwartz?

  In addition, the Vasa has had a significant effect on popular culture in Sweden. According to some archaeologists and historians, despite the ship's infamous sinking, fascination with it in recent decades has helped foster a nationalistic view of the age of warrior kings and quests for nautical glory that is similar to the sense of modern pride, at least shared cultural identity, regarding the Viking Age. In some business and technology circles, the Vasa has also become a vivid symbol of project mismanagement. Several authors and experts have used the term "Vasa Syndrome"

• 28:31Dana Schwartz?

  when discussing failed ventures that were drastically affected by modern organizations' shortened timelines, poor communication, and lack of corrective action. Such examples include Greyhound trying to shift to a computerized bus reservation system in 1993, and NASA's reportedly flawed process leading up to the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster. Ultimately, it's difficult to envision there ever being another ship like the Vasa, thanks to its bridging of eras, linking of kings, and legacy of mind-bending dichotomies.

• 29:12Dana Schwartz?

  By sinking, it rose to fame. By barely traveling, it lured countless travelers. Perhaps most inspiringly, after drowning under the weights of discord and royal expectations, the Vasa lived on by buoying cooperation and scientific innovation. Not bad for a bundle of sticks.

• 29:38Dana Schwartz?

  That's the unsinkable history of the Vasa, but stick around after a brief sponsor break to get one last blast of irony from those sought-after bronze cannons.

• 29:56Speaker 03

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• 30:54Dana Schwartz?

  Other than firing one ammunition-free salute, the Vasa's bronze 24-pounders were never actually put to use on the Swedish flagship. In a fateful twist, however, the cannons may have seen action decades later. Albrecht von Trailbrunn, the Swede who, if you'll remember, effectively utilized the diving bell, salvaged most of the guns and passed them on to his business partners. We know this because surviving customs records from 1665 reveal that those men exported 53 of the cannons to Lubeck, Germany, where there was quite a market for second-hand weapons.

• 31:38Dana Schwartz?

  Fred Hocker, the head of research at the Vasa Museum, makes a compelling case in his book, Vasa, that some of those cannons found their way to Denmark, since the Danish king at the time, Frederick III, had sent representatives to Lubeck to purchase cannons for his own navy. Given that Denmark later battled Sweden in the Scandinavian War in 1670, it's therefore possible that those same cannons were, as Hocker put it, "eventually fired in anger at the Swedish fleet." In other words, after causing no end of trouble for foundry workers, shipbuilders,

• 32:20Dana Schwartz?

  and the Vasa crew, King Gustavus Adolphus's hubristic order of cannons could hardly have backfired anymore on their home country's hopes for Scandinavian supremacy at sea.

• 32:44Dana Schwartz?

  Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manke. Noble Blood is hosted by me, Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Courtney Sender, Amy Height, and Giulia Malani. The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk with supervising producer Rema Ilkayali and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

• 33:26Speaker 01

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• 33:55Dana Schwartz?

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.